MCSO - Marion County Sheriff’s Office - MCSO

Prior to becoming the Sheriff of Marion County, Emery A. Gainey was a member of the Attorney General’s senior executive management team. He has served as
the Director of Law Enforcement, Victim Services & Criminal Justice Programs for the Florida Attorney General. He was the liaison between federal, state and local law enforcement
administrators. Sheriff Gainey played a key role in the development, implementation and execution of the Attorney General’s criminal justice related initiatives while also overseeing the Division of
Victim Services.

Before joining the Attorney General's Office in 2007, Sheriff Gainey served with the Alachua County Sheriffs Office for 25 years, holding several key positions during
his tenure including: Chief Deputy (Chief of Staff & Chief Financial Officer), Division Commander of the Uniform Patrol, Homeland Security Commander as well as many others.

Sheriff Gainey is a member of the Florida Sheriffs Association, Florida Police Chiefs Association, FBI National Academy Associates, Florida Chapter, and serves on
numerous community boards and professional organizations.

Sheriff Gainey is a Graduate of the University of Florida, with a degree in Criminal Justice, and a Graduate of the FBI National Academy, 188th session.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office is made up of over 750 diverse and dedicated men and women, striving every day to serve the citizens of Marion County to the best of
their ability.

We look forward to engaging our community in new ways and strengthening our alliance with the Board of County Commissioners to provide a safe environment for our
family and yours.

MISSION

To enhance the quality of life in Marion County by working cooperatively with the public and within the framework of the Constitution to enforce laws, preserve the
peace, reduce fear and provide a safe environment.

VISION

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office is proud to be part of a growing community and is dedicated to providing our citizens with the highest level of law enforcement and
public service. Our Agency strives to set industry standards and provide a community-minded approach to crime prevention and criminal justice. Our employees, united in a spirit of teamwork, take
pride in performing their duties and are dedicated to live by values reflecting a genuine desire to safeguard the public.

Hello! I’m Lieutenant C.T. Welch and I’m the District Commander for the Southwest District for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. I have been serving with the
Sheriff’s Office since 1993. During this time, I have worked as a Patrol Deputy, Field Training Officer, D.A.R.E. Officer, Community Policing Officer, Property Crimes Investigator, Crisis Negotiator
Team Leader, Field Force Team Leader, Juvenile Unit Supervisor, Patrol Supervisor, and District Commander.

The Southwest District has numerous residential areas within it such as, On Top of the World, Oak Run, Palm Cay, Marion Landing and the Pine Run, to name a few.
There are also numerous commercial businesses that take advantage of the State Road 200 and the Highway 40 corridors. The latest population figures indicate that this area has approximately 40, 500
residents living within this district’s boundaries, which totals 77.7 square miles. Currently there are 14 deputies, and a secretary assigned to the Southwest District. My office is located at the
Brian Litz SR 200 building, which is located at 9048 SW Highway 200. We are open Monday through Friday from 8 to 5. We have a community meeting room that is available for non-profit groups to use, at
no charge. Our office number is 352-402-6060. We have Citizens on Patrol (COPS) volunteer group that patrols the many neighborhoods and businesses in the Southwest District. If you would like to join
and volunteer your time, please stop by the office and pick up a Volunteer Application.

Public Record Request for MCSO Lynching Records

From my PRR to [Chief Gregg Jerald] and Captain Vyse May 12, 2016:

John Richards, a black man, was lynched on February 17, 1915 in Marion County Florida for allegedly sending an insulting note to a white woman.

Attached you will find Chapter 5, "The End of Lynching in Marion County", from "Lethal Punishment: Lynchings and Legal Executions in the South" by author Margaret
Vandiver, a retired professor from the University of Memphis.

"A striking aspect of lynching in Marion County is the frequency with which mobs took their victims from the custody of law enforcement,
apparently meeting little or no resistance. Of the fifteen cases in which I have been able to determine the circumstances of the suspect's capture by the mob, all but two involved suspects already in
the custody of law enforcement officers."

"Between 1885 and 1930, nineteen black men were lynched in Marion County, nine of them for sexual offenses. Marion County lynchings were public affairs, often carried
out before hundreds of witnesses, but none of the perpetrators was prosecuted." (p 70)

All of this stems from an excessive force investigation into the Sheriff’s Office.

Governor Rick Scott quickly appointed an interim sheriff, Emery Gainey. He was working in the Attorney General’s Office as the Director of Law Enforcement, Victim
Services and Criminal Justice Programs.

At a news conference on Friday evening, he said he wasn’t given much notice. He got the call Friday morning and now he has to move from Tallahassee to Ocala to step
in.Read
more

A grand jury has indicted Sheriff Chris Blair on two counts of perjury in an official proceeding and one count of official misconduct in connection with a broad
investigation of his agency and its deputies.

If convicted of the charges, all third-degree felonies, Blair could face up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines on each count.

Gov. Rick Scott suspended Blair on Friday and appointed Emery Gainey, an official with the Attorney General's Office who once worked at the Alachua County Sheriff's
Office, to serve as interim sheriff. (See related story.)

Blair was booked into the Marion County Jail on Friday and was released about 3:30 p.m. after posting bond. A Star-Banner reporter and photographer were turned away
from Blair's home later in the afternoon. A little while after that, all deputies were sworn in again to serve under the interim sheriff.

"The MCSO is going through an immediate transition and will provide further information in a responsible and timely manner," Blair's spokeswoman wrote in a news
release issued about 4 p.m.

The grand jury has been investigating the conduct of sheriff's deputies and determining whether wrongdoing, such as using excessive force, was systemic. Blair was
subpoenaed to appear before that grand jury and, when he did, he "knowingly testified falsely" concerning the Dustin Heathman case, according to the indictment, which the panel handed up Thursday
afternoon.

Deputies arrested Heathman on June 1, 2014, after a tense and sometimes violent standoff with the SWAT team. Heathman shot at deputies; during the arrest, one deputy
would later admit, Heathman was struck without cause.

Blair was on the scene and, in particular, was present when Heathman eventually was taken into custody and treated for his wounds.Read more

The indictment and ensuing suspension of Marion County Sheriff Chris Blair cast a significant pall on the man and the office he leads and should be of great concern to
the people of Marion County who elected him.

Blair was arrested on Friday after a grand jury indicted him on three felony counts: two counts of perjury and one count of official misconduct. He was suspended by
Gov. Rick Scott, who tapped Emery Gainey as interim sheriff. Gainey is director of the Division of Victim Services and Criminal Justice Programs for the Florida Attorney General’s Office.

Blair’s defenders will be quick to point out that in this country we are all innocent until proven guilty. And they are right. Yet, grand juries do not return
indictments lightly, especially against sitting sheriffs. The panel believed Blair lied to them, based on more than his testimony.

The particular case about which Blair is accused of lying was a piece of a larger probe into the use of excessive force within the Sheriff’s Office — spurred by the
now-infamous August 2014 beating of Derrick Price in Marion Oaks. The case involved Dustin Heathman, who is now serving a life sentence for his role in a wild shootout with the sheriff’s SWAT team,
also in 2014. After he was taken into custody, Heathman alleges he was beaten. The grand jury claims Blair lied about whether he saw Heathman and his wounds in the immediate aftermath of the beating.
They are not inconsequential charges, especially in light of the focus of the grand jury’s inquery.

Unfortunately, the lying charge fits a pattern of Blair making statements that have been less than truthful — and in a range of settings, from the campaign trail to
County Commission meetings to interactions with this newspaper. Even before Blair was elected, State Attorney Brad King warned that he played fast and loose with the rules when he was MCSO’s top
detective. Blair’s fine by the Florida Commission Ethics for financial irregularities during the 2012 campaign — and his denials of misconduct — further tarnished Blair’s credibility.

Blair will surely contest the charges. Yet, his continued candidacy for sheriff should be questioned. There is little likelihood the case will be resolved by the
August primaries and, frankly, Blair is facing knowledgeable, credible, experienced opponents in Republicans Kerry Crawford and Billy Woods and Democrats Ed Dean and Dennis McFatten.

Moreover, no segment of the community will suffer more from the fallout of the indictment than the nearly 800 employees of the Sheriff’s Office. Already there is
uneasiness and fear among many of its employees about what comes next. Who might be next? Who will be the boss tomorrow, next month, after November?

We urge the people of Marion County to show their support and respect for the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office during what is a difficult time for them on and off
the job.

Accusations that there is a "culture of violence" in the Sheriff’s Office by both outside investigators and former employees has led to the imprisonment of four former
deputies and the trial and acquittal of a fifth. Now, the sheriff is under indictment and suspended as part of that investigation.

It is a time like this when a man hopes he has a good reputation to fall back on. Regrettably, Blair forfeited that long ago in too many circles. No matter what
happens next, this was a sad and embarrassing day for Marion County.

The Marion County Sheriff's Office was the location for the Oath of Office Ceremony on Tuesday, January 8, 2013 at 11:30 a.m. The Honorable Judge Hale Stancil
performed the Oath of Office with our new Sheriff, Chris Blair. The ceremony will included the swearing-in of all MCSO sworn officers. The ceremony was held in the parking lot of the Sheriff's Office
Main Operations Complex, 692 NW 30th Avenue, Ocala.

The ceremony included the MCSO Pipes and Drums Band, Honor Guard, and a new vehicle static display. This event was open to the public. Refreshments were served in the
lobby.

Ocala, FL (TFC) – Marion County Sheriff’s Office has done it again. Sheriff Chris Blair is restructuring
the six bureaus that currently exist within the agency by forming the Bureau of Homeland Security and Professional Compliance, which will include Emergency Management.

The person that will be overseeing this new Bureau of Homeland Security and Professional Compliance is going to be Terry Bovaird. He was recently rehired with a
starting salary of $102,568.86. After he retired a little over 6 months ago

Bovaird is participating in what’s known as DROP, short for the Deferred Retirement Option Program.

According to the Florida Department of Management Services, Bovaird received a DROP payout of $339,175.79 when he retired in June. He also started drawing a monthly
retirement payment of $6,561.15.

Under DROP rules, Bovaird couldn’t work for the sheriff or any state employer for six months. If he did, he would have voided his retirement benefits.

Once the six months passed, he could be rehired. His monthly retirement payment will be suspended until June 2015.

This double dipping tactic is nothing new to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. The truth is most of their top officers have retired from Marion County Sheriff’s
Office only to later be rehired.

Let’s start with Sheriff Chris Blair. He received a DROP payout of $448,435.21. Next on the list is Deputy Chief Fred LaTorre who received a DROP payout of
$341,725.68. Then you have Major Tommy Bibb. He received a DROP payout of $338,763.77. Last but not least, Major Don Maines, who received a DROP payout of 253,979.07. This is on top of their
$100,000.00 plus salaries.

The 2014 video shows suspect Dustin Heathman handcuffed in his underwear, being escorted by two deputies with apparent injuries to his face.

You see Heathman and the deputies walk up to a vehicle where former Marion County Sheriff Chris Blair is standing. The video shows Blair stepping back to let Heathman
and the deputies pass by to get to the back of that vehicle.

The Grand Jury investigated the conduct of deputies for using excessive force in making arrests. Blair was subpoenaed to testify. While testifying, Blair said he never
saw Heathman's face and only saw the back of him.

Interim Marion County Sheriff Emery Gainey suspended Major Don Maines of the Bureau of Professional Standards and Major Tommy Bibb of the Bureau of Special
Investigations, placing them on paid administrative leave. Officials stated that there is no active MCSO internal affairs investigation being conducted in relation to the suspensions.

The suspension period for the two majors is indefinite, according to MCSO officials.

The personnel moves come in the wake of Sheriff Gainey being appointed to the position of interim Sheriff by Gov. Rick Scott this week. Gainey assumed the duties of
suspended Marion County Sheriff Chris Blair, who was indicted Friday on perjury and misconduct charges following an investigation into a 2014 standoff between deputies and suspect Dustin Heathman.Read more

MCSO Chief Deputy Fred LaTorre is retiring June 2016

Chief LaTorre has over 30 years of combined law enforcement, corrections and emergency management experience. He has a dual bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and
public administration as well as a master’s degree in criminal justice. Chief LaTorre is a graduate of the 72 A.O.C. Southern Police Institute at the University of Louisville and the 166th Session of
the F.B.I. National Academy. Chief LaTorre has command responsibility over all day-to-day operations of the Sheriff’s Office. MCSO website

ABA & NAACP: Racial Bias in Criminal Justice System

The ABA and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational fund have issued a joint statement addressing the "troubling and destabilizing loss of public confidence in the
American criminal justice system."

The statement (PDF) notes the "recent spate of killings
of unarmed African American men and women at the hands of white law enforcement officers." While the ABA and the Fund believe that "the overwhelming percentage" of police, prosecutors and judges are
not racist, "explicit bias remains a real factor in our country—and criminal justice system—and implicit or unconscious bias affects even those who may believe themselves to be fair," the statement
says.

"The American criminal justice is unquestionably at a moment of crisis," the statement says. Read more

The United States Department of Justice announced that former Marion County Sheriff's Office Deputy Jesse Terrell was indicted on a civil rights violation.

Terrell, along with four other deputies — James Amidei, Trevor Fitzgerald, Adam Crawford and Cody Hoppel — had been suspended without pay for his involvement in a
drug-related arrest warrant regarding Derrick Price. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office discovered this video recording during a use-of-force investigation.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office started the Bad to the Bone competition in 2008 and have held it every October since. Each year, SWAT teams and other members of
Florida law enforcement agencies are invited to participate. Teams and individuals face 17 challenging obstacles and different competitions such as a Tough Man competition, a Baddest Gal Alive
division, a Men’s Five Member Team competition, and a Tough Men Over 40 division.

Bad to the Bone allows for individuals to build upon their own respective talents as well as display their ability to work as a team. This competition helps teams
prepare for the annual
Orlando SWAT Round-up competition in November. The event is free to participants, family and friends who want to cheer on their loved ones.

"Bad to the Bone" is a song by George Thorogood and the Destroyers
released in 1982 on the album of the same name. While it was not widely popular during its initial release, its video made recurrent appearances on the nascent MTV, created a year before. Licensing for films, television, and commercials has since made the song more popular.Read more

Every nation has a creation myth, or origin myth, which is the story people are taught of how the nation came into being. Ours says the United States began with
Columbus's so-called "discovery" of America, continued with settlement by brave Pilgrims, won its independence from England with the American Revolution, and then expanded westward until it became
the enormous, rich country you see today.

That is the origin myth. It omits three key facts about the birth and growth of the United States as a nation. Those facts demonstrate that White Supremacy is
fundamental to the existence of this country.Read

On the dayBennie Coleman lost his house, the day armed U.S. marshals came to his door and ordered him off the property, he slumped in a folding chair across the street and watched the vestiges of his 76 years hauled to
the curb...because he didn’t pay a $134 property tax
bill.

60 Minutes' Steve Kroft Talks To Carl HiaasenIn a little less than a
century, the state of Florida has been transformed from a largely uninhabited swamp to the fourth-largest state in the union. And no one has written about that transformation more successfully than
Carl Hiaasen.

Carl Hiaasen on Florida:

"The Sunshine State is a paradise of scandals teeming with drifters, deadbeats, and misfits drawn here by some dark primordial
calling like demented trout. And you'd be surprised how many of them decide to run for public office."

In 1902, 140,000 miners went on strike, wanting higher pay, shorter work hours, and better housing.....Roosevelt...use[d] the military to run the mines in the "public
interest". The mining companies...accepted the demands of the UMW...more﻿﻿

Presidential Library and Museum

Pro labor: Labor is prior to, and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first
existed. Labor is the superior of capital and deserves much higher consideration.Abraham
Lincoln pro labor quote﻿

Todayeconomic slaveryhas many people indebt chains. Economic or debt slavery ismore efficientfor its masters than the slavery of the Old South. Debt slaves must
feed, house and clothe themselves. Thedebt slave masters, thebanks,credit card companies, and even student loan providers, all rely upon the courts and justice system for enforcement of debt. When economic slaves can’t pay back their debt, they are told to get a second job. Or a third job.

Meanwhile, when thewell-connected mastersof economic slaves get in a financial bind, and
bring our economy to the brink of collapse, they call on politicians in Washington, DC for bailouts.Bankers don’t get second
or third jobs, they get million-dollar bonuses.

Theeconomic slave mastershave access to the best lawyers, sympathetic judges, and sheriff’s
deputies ready to haul the debt slave to court, or throw him and his family out of their
home and into the street. Does anyone see a problem with thisscenario? Where is the John Brown for today’sdebt slaves?﻿

The State Department's top spokesman resigned Sunday, three days after criticizing the Pentagon for its treatment of [Manning]...P.J. Crowley, the assistant secretary of State for public affairs, told a group at [MIT]...that the Pentagon's treatment of Pfc. Bradley Manning was "ridiculous and stupid and
counterproductive." His comments were made public by a blogger who attended the session.More here, and Politico, andThe Washington
Post

FORTY years ago today, The New York Times began publishing the Pentagon Papers, a seminal moment not only for freedom of the press but also for the role of
whistle-blowers — like Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the papers to expose the mishandling of the war in Vietnam — in defending our democracy.Read more﻿﻿

Senior ranking US military leaders have so distorted the truth when communicating with the US Congress and American people in regards to conditions on the ground in
Afghanistan that the truth has become unrecognizable.Read
more﻿

"I really don't like the term 'PTSD,’” Department of Veterans Affairs psychiatrist Dr. Jonathan Shay told PBS' "Religion & Ethics Newsweekly" in 2010. "He says the diagnostic
definition of "post-traumatic stress disorder" is a fine description of certain instinctual survival skills that persist into everyday life after a person has been in mortal danger — but the
definition doesn't address the entirety of a person's injury after the trauma of war. "I view the persistence into civilian life after battle," he says, "... as the simple or primary
injury." Dr. Shay on YouTube

Dr. Shay has his own name for the thing the clinical definition of PTSD leaves out. He calls it "moral injury" — and the term is catching on with both the VA and the
Department of Defense.

Moral injury, Dr. Shay says, can happen when "there is a betrayal of what's right by someone who holds legitimate authority in a high-stakes situation."read more

The Marine Corps, the most male of the armed services, is taking its first steps toward integrating women into war-fighting units, starting with its infantry officer
school at Quantico, Va., and ground combat battalions that had once been closed to women.

Stars and Stripes exists to provide independent news and information to the U.S. military community, comprised
of active-duty, DoD civilians, contractors, and their families. Unique among the many Department of Defense authorized news outlets, only Stars and Stripes is guaranteed First Amendment privileges
that are subject to Congressional oversight.﻿ Go to the website

Our motto: "FIGHTING FOR THE TRUTH. . .EXPOSING THE CORRUPT" is our battle cry! We go after, not only pompous brasshats and as COL. David Hackworth so ably put it -
the "perfumed princes" like Gen. Wesley Clark - but Gestapo-like MP's, CID, NIS, OIS and other alphabet agency "bully boys" who ignore the Constitution of the United States and the right to Due
Process.﻿

Major Heather Penney recounts the drama in the skies after District of Columbia Air National Guard pilots scrambled to intercept incoming hostile planes. She
describes why F-16’s initially took off from Andrews Air Force Base unarmed – and what she was prepared to do to bring down a plane piloted by terrorists. And she recounts how later that day she
helped escort President Bush and Air Force One back to Andrews Air Force Base.﻿ C-Span
Interview

Information on this website is a free public service. While the information on this site deals with legal issues, it does not constitute
legal advice. If you have specific questions related to information available on this site, you are encouraged to consult an attorney who can investigate the particular circumstances of your
situation.

Due to the rapidly changing nature of the law and our reliance on information provided by outside sources, this website does not warranty or guarantee the accuracy or
availability of the content on this site or on other sites to which we link.

In no event will this website be held liable to any party for any damages arising in any way out of the availability, use, reliance on or inability to use this website
or any information provided by or through this website, or for any claim attributable to errors, omissions or other inaccuracies in, or destructive properties of any information provided by or
through, this website.

Neil J. Gillespie:
1. Does not give legal advice.2. Not a lawyer.3. Not an attorney.4. Not licensed to practice law.5. Did not go to law school.

______________________

Seven Year Anniversary - YouSue.org to NoSue.org

Seven years ago I started the Justice Network with the domain name YouSue.org. This name was chosen in the spirit of YouTube, the video-sharing website that
empowered ordinary people to produce and share video.

Through this website I have met folks from all over the country. Some of their stories are profiled here. Many have reached the conclusion that America’s justice system is broken.

The official Justice Network Internet address is now NoSue.org. This reflects the sad truth that for most Americans the justice system is broken, just a parody of justice. Reform American courts or
avoid them. Your life, health and wealth is at risk. But don’t just take my word, listen to the experts on this site.

The stories, images, and videos on this website are in the public
domain, or featured here under the fair use doctrine if copyrighted. I claim no credit for images posted on this site unless noted. If there is an image on this site that belongs to you and do not wish for it appear, E-mail with a link to the image and it will be removed.